Special drive: Delhi Traffic Police issues 19,500 challans to e-rickshaws from Jan-Oct 2021

The Delhi Traffic Police, in a special drive, took action against over 19,500 e-rickshaws over improper parking, driving in ‘no entry zone’ or without a license, exceeding the number of passengers among other violations from January to October 31 this year, official data stated.

According to the data, out of the total 19,591 challans issued to e-rickshaws, the maximum number of challans were issued in Western Range (14,580) followed by 2,802 challans in New Delhi Range and 2,209 challans in the Southern Range of the traffic police.

An analysis of the data of the three traffic ranges accessed from January till October 31 so far showed that 11,983 challans were issued for improper parking, 5,546 challans for driving in ‘no entry zone’, while 2,062 for other violations related to registration certificate (RC), license, wrong side, exceeding passenger limit or dangerous driving.

During the same period, the Delhi Traffic Police impounded 31,723 e-rickshaws in its three ranges, with the maximum of 554 such vehicles in the west, followed by 124 in southern and the least in New Delhi at 45, the data showed.

The data also cited the action taken by the traffic police both through Virtual Online Challan Application (VoCA) and e-challan machine.

Police also stated that the challans issued for different violations range from Rs 5,000 and beyond about types of offenses.

The Western Range of the traffic unit includes many market areas, including Peera Garhi Chowk, Mundka, Sagarpur, Shadi Put Chowk, and Dwarka More.

Deputy Commissioner of Traffic (West) Ghanshyam Bansal said in the special drive conducted since January this year, the action was taken against 19,591 e-rickshaws for violating the law by driving without RC, license or driving against the flow of traffic, dangerous driving or over-crowding their vehicles and parking at improper places.

''But in the last six months, we have seen a lot of improvement. Maximum prosecutions have also instilled discipline among the e-rickshaw drivers who otherwise added congestion and affected the traffic flow by randomly stopping in the middle of the road to either pick or drop passengers,'' he said.

''In congested areas, where there is a heavy presence of e-rickshaws like in Uttam Nagar, Nangloi Chowk, or Peera Garhi, we have done an extensive drive to ease out the traffic situation. We deployed our staff who instructed the e-rickshaw drivers to park their vehicles at the designated spot. In places like Peera Garhi, especially on Rohtak road, e-rickshaws are not allowed so, despite that if they did, we impounded the vehicles,'' he added.

The officer observed that with maximum prosecution through the special drive, they have now noticed disciple among the e-rickshaw drivers in their district which has also reduced congestion, traffic snarls, and most importantly averted accidents as pedestrians now have space to move.

The New Delhi Range of the traffic unit includes Mandir Marg, Chanakapuri, Mahipalpur, NH-48, and station road among others, while the Southern Range includes Vasant Vihar, Saket, Mehrauli, Lajpat Nagar, Greater Kailash, Sangam Vihar, Kalkaji, Sukhdev Vihar, and Sarita Vihar area.

A senior traffic official said the prosecution has been low in these areas as compared to the western unit because, in many areas of New Delhi and Southern ranges, e-rickshaws are not allowed on specific roads.

''A notification has been issued according to which e-rickshaws are not allowed on certain roads beyond a specific point. Based on the notification, we asked the PWD to display cautionary boards as a warning sign for these vehicles to not enter the specified areas where it is not allowed,'' he said.

The officer said a series of meetings have been held with e-rickshaw association members to ensure they do not drive on roads where their entry is unauthorized.

''But during the meetings, the e-rickshaw drivers raised their issues, saying when they pick up their passengers, they have to pass through some major or arterial roads or no-entry zones. They said they cannot ask the passengers to get down in the middle because their entry is restricted on the other end,'' he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)